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WordPress 3.2 approaches with release candidate

The WordPress.org development team has published the first release candidate (RC1) for version 3.2 of its open source blogging and publishing platform. In a blog post, the developers ask early adopters and developers to test the latest release, saying: "We think we're done, but with tens of millions of users, a variety of configurations, and thousands of plugins, it's possible we've missed something". The final version is targeted for release on 30 June.

The visual editor’s full-screen composing experience has received a "major overhaul", and is now also available from HTML mode. Other changes include a refreshed Admin user interface that includes support for Google's Chrome Frame, the addition of more links on the admin bar and the removal of the favorites menu. A new default theme, called "Twenty Eleven", based on the popular Duster theme has also been added. System requirements for version 3.2 of WordPress include PHP 5.24 and MySQL 5.0. It also drops support for Internet Explorer 6.

As with all development releases, use on production sites is not advised. Users testing the release are asked to provide feedback and report any bugs that they find in the forums, mailing lists, over IRC on irc.freenode.net #wordpress-dev or directly into the WordPress Trac.

Further information about the release candidate can be found in a news post by WordPress Core Developer Andrew Nacin. WordPress 3.2 RC1 is available to download (direct download) from the project's web site. Alternatively, existing users can install the WordPress Beta Tester plugin and select "bleeding edge nightlies".

WordPress is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The latest stable release is version 3.1.3 from 25 May, a maintenance and security update that introduced click-jacking protection in modern browsers and featured security hardening and taxonomy query hardening.